Jerry 🦙💝🦙Y’all. When did replacing an AC unit start costing $13000?
So far, the cheapest quote I’ve gotten is for $8000, and I’m pretty sure the guy who answered the phone “hey?” And then gave me a quote over the phone said something about not asking where the AC unit came from if I want that price.
vxo@jerry oh gods. Uh, we have one at work that's like that, it was new but had clearly been reshipped like ten times, didn't work right on arrival, then killed a TXV (debris in the system?)
Parker@jerry I had a similar experience after a broken HVAC unit and elected to get some giant $800 window units that are suprisingly very effective.
Justice for Sepulveda Martinez
Pär Björklund
yopp@jerry huh, seems like I can just mail you AC from Balkans and buy business class airline tickets for installation person and it still going be cheaper! 24BTU split system with inverter drive cost about €1k
sysop_host@jerry this may be worth a watch https://youtu.be/DTsQjiPlksA?si=aRC17Pf9tqBGMx6n
Dan Cornell@jerry Both of the units at my house used to be on the roof. When you have to rent a crane to replace an AC unit, $13k is pretty easy to achieve
@danielcornell that’s the nutty thing - this is a vanilla coil in a traditional furnace, with a traditional pad mounted central AC system next to the house.
@jerry That does seem a little pricey. Mercifully, I haven't had to replace an AC unit in a bit
Zamnight@jerry I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess - When summer heat started killing people.
Stephen Wuebker@jerry yikes! I replaced both my furnace and AC unit a couple of years ago for ~$10K all in.
GreenDotGuy@jerry I've been in the same house for almost 17 years now, so I'm starting to experience the same repairs for the second time.
Top-line inflation numbers don't reflect that the actual cost for things like plumbing and HVAC equipment & services (which were already exceeding regular inflation) have absolutely exploded in the last five years. More than potato chips or whatever.
scottpack@jerry That's nuts. In Jan of 2022 we replaced our entire system, gas furnace and AC for $8k.
I'm sorry bubble.
Joe Cooper 🇺🇦 🍉@jerry that's why I'm opting for a couple of DIY mini-splits (my old house has never had central air, so it'd be even more expensive to have ducted heat and AC installed). It'll be nearly an order of magnitude less money and only take several hundred dollars worth of my time (optimistically speaking).
LeeRayl@jerry $18k for a new tankless water heater and lines last week. Everything have shocked me lately price wise.
Marsh Ray@jerry That's the price you get when you talk to a salesperson at a name brand franchise.
I have gotten really good references this way:
Find the local HVAC supply store. Call and ask them what time of day things are slow. Go down there in person and be friendly. Know exactly what you're replacing. They will likely tell you what the contractors are putting into all the new developments. Explain how you typically build your own servers, (perhaps your brother-in-law knows how and offered to help) but you want to give the job to someone local who does it every day and will just quote a reasonable markup.
I have gotten really good references this way:
Find the local HVAC supply store. Call and ask them what time of day things are slow. Go down there in person and be friendly. Know exactly what you're replacing. They will likely tell you what the contractors are putting into all the new developments. Explain how you typically build your own servers, (perhaps your brother-in-law knows how and offered to help) but you want to give the job to someone local who does it every day and will just quote a reasonable markup.
Ryan Littlefield@jerry I had mine done back in 2018ish and felt like a was fleeced at $5500. That includes the compressor and condenser and installation. Don’t remember the capacity, but it was a big one for a large house.
Justin Thomas@jerry we replaced ours 6 years ago (a 5 ton Lennox unit) and it ran about $15k. I had to get it repaired last month (a bolt came loose and released all the refrigerant). And that cost $2k.
That last bit prompted me to become EPA 608 certified so at least I can get the refrigerant myself as opposed to paying the 1500% markup the repair folks are demanding. They wanted $2400 for 15 lbs of R410a. That can be bought on the open market for about $175.
Evelyn 
@jerry Holy crap. NYC rent just started seeming more reasonable
AxehaftHere's the worst part. Its gonna last half the lifetime of your last one.
Doug@jerry we had a new unit installed a little over two years ago and it was $8300. That’s about double of what these units used to go for, circa 2020, from what I hear.
Max "Buzzworthy" Eddy@jerry I'm...so sorry
mav 
@jerry
2020.
After that, home repairs really started to become untenable.
I've been just kind of holding everything together with gaff tape and wood glue, because even as a reasonably well paid technical professional it's really really hard to afford to replace anything at all, let alone do anything new.
The thing about the economy is it's only good if you're super super rich